oddly enough

oddly enough

Report: Inmate steals cash during jail exit

SANTA FE, N.M.

A New Mexico inmate on his way out of jail was thrown back in quickly after authorities say he stole another inmate’s cash then treated himself to a hearty lunch.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office told KOAT-TV that 20-year-old Frank Rodriguez-Tapia swiped $80 in cash while a guard’s back was turned as Rodriguez-Tapia was walking out of jail. The money belonged to another inmate who was just coming into the Santa Fe jail and going through booking.

Police say Rodriguez-Tapia was supposed to report immediately to the electronic monitoring office, but bought lunch at Blake’s Lotaburger. He later admitted to the theft, turned over the remaining $67 and was sent back to jail.

Rodriguez-Tapia is facing new larceny charges.

It was unclear if he had an attorney.

‘Zombies ahead’ appears on road sign

GREECE, N.Y.

Motorists may have gotten a chuckle out of it, but state transportation officials aren’t amused after hackers tampered with a roadside sign so that it read, “Zombies ahead.”

WHEC-TV in Rochester reports that several viewers sent the station photographs of the altered electronic traffic sign located along Interstate 390 in the suburban town of Greece.

The state Department of Transportation learned about the sign’s bogus warning early Monday after someone called police. The sign eventually was turned off.

An agency spokeswoman says tampering with electronic road signs can distract drivers and cause accidents. The official says anyone caught tampering with the signs can be charged with vandalism.

School bus, truck crash without drivers

BEAVER FALLS, Pa.

Police don’t plan to cite the drivers of a truck and school bus which crashed in western Pennsylvania.

But only because neither vehicle had a driver when they wrecked.

Police in Patterson Township tell the Beaver County Times the incident happened just before 10 a.m. Tuesday when the parked bus began to roll down a hill. Police aren’t sure why that happened, because the driver had engaged the parking brake.

The bus rear-ended a parked truck, which also began rolling down the hill alongside the bus, until the truck flipped onto its side. The bus continued on, shearing off one utility pole and hitting another before rolling to a stop a few feet from the porch of a home.

Nobody was hurt.

Patterson Township is about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

Associated Press